Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 93

Devanagari script

यथैव मरणाद्भीतिरस्मदादि वपुष्मताम् । ब्रह्मादिकीटकांतानां तथा मरणतो भयम्

Transliteration

yathaiva maraṇādbhītirasmadādi vapuṣmatām | brahmādikīṭakāṃtānāṃ tathā maraṇato bhayam

Translation

നമ്മെപ്പോലുള്ള ദേഹധാരികൾക്ക് മരണഭയം ഉള്ളതുപോലെ, ബ്രഹ്മാവിൽ നിന്ന് ഏറ്റവും ചെറു കീടം വരെ എല്ലാവർക്കും മരണഭയം ഉണ്ട്।

Word by Word

• यथा: just as
• यथा: Sambandha (Comparative marker/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमानवाचक (comparative particle: “as/just as”)

• एव: indeed/only
• एव: Sambandha (Emphasis/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारणार्थक-निपात (emphatic particle)

• मरणात्: from death
• मरणात्: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: maraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; पञ्चमी-विभक्ति (Ablative/5th), एकवचन

• भीतिः: fear
• भीतिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhīti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन

• अस्मदादि: beginning with us (i.e., all like us)
• अस्मदादि: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः—तत्पुरुष (अस्मदादयः = “we and others”); नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग-सम्बद्ध विशेषण; प्रथमा/द्वितीया-एकवचन रूपेण ‘वपुष्मताम्’ इत्यस्य विशेषणार्थे अव्ययवत् प्रयोगः (indeclinable-like adjectival use)

• वपुष्मताम्: of embodied beings
• वपुष्मताम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vapuṣmat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), बहुवचन

• ब्रह्मादि: beginning with Brahmā
• ब्रह्मादि: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: brahman (प्रातिपदिक) + ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः—तत्पुरुष (ब्रह्मादयः = “Brahmā and others”); विशेषण; षष्ठी-बहुवचन ‘कीटकान्तानाम्’ इत्यस्य विशेषण

• कीटकान्तानाम्: of those ranging up to insects
• कीटकान्तानाम्: Sambandha (Genitive relation/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kīṭaka (प्रातिपदिक) + anta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः—तत्पुरुष (कीटकान्ताः = “ending with insects”); पुंलिङ्ग; षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/6th), बहुवचन

• तथा: likewise
• तथा: Sambandha (Correlative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; तद्वत्-भाववाचक (correlative adverb: “so/likewise”)

• मरणतः: from death
• मरणतः: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: maraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; पञ्चमी-विभक्ति (Ablative/5th), एकवचन (वैकल्पिक रूप ‘-तः’)

• भयम्: fear
• भयम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन

Speaker

Skanda (deduced; Kāśīkhaṇḍa commonly Skanda instructing Agastya)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Kāśī

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: A contemplative teaching scene in Kāśī: a sage points to a procession of beings—devas, humans, animals, insects—under the shadow of Time (Kāla), indicating that fear of death touches all.

Characters & Entities

• Brahmā

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

All beings share the fear of death; this recognition becomes a strong ethical basis for compassion and non-violence.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The verse is situated in Kāśī Khaṇḍa, but it emphasizes universal dharma rather than a particular tīrtha.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None directly; it undergirds ahiṃsā as a moral vow.